Usually when I travel, I avoid touristy stuff. My motive for traveling, especially in a Spanish-speaking country, is to immerse myself in the cultures while developing my Spanish. But La Mitad del Mundo, a famous tourist attraction in Ecuador, was irresistible. For more than I year, I wanted to get my picture taken with one foot in the northern hemisphere and the other foot in the southern.
There are a lot of souvenir shops where I bought alpaca knit sweaters, t-shirts, and the panama hat that I'm wearing, which costs $22.00 (worth more than $150.00 in the states).
It was December 2009 when I finally made the trip as planned. I paid $80 (USD) for a luxury bus, Ormeño from Lima, Perú where I was spending the first part of my vacation; I got off in Ecuador's southern city of Guayaquil, then flew to Quito, the nation's capital for $105.00 (USD).
Gloria, a friend I met through a Facebook friend in Germany met me in downtown Quito and we took a 40-minute bus ride to the equator--La Mitad del Mundo (the Middle of the World). Because the equator runs right through the Andes Mountains, the weather was windy and chilly enough for a long-sleeve shirt. In fact, the wind blew my newly purchased panama right off my head.
Standing on the equator with one foot in the northern hemisphere and one foot in the southern.
This was myfirst time seeing live llamas. They did not let me get too close to them.
There was also a cultural museum where I took photos of this Afro-Ecuadorean exhibit.
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